Python Warnings for Beginners
You are done with this exercise. This exercise might be hard for you, depending on your familiarity with your computer. If it is diffi cult, take the time to read and study and get through it, because until you can do these very basic things, you will fi nd it diffi cult to get much programming done.
If a programmer tells you to use vim or emacs, just say “no.” These editors are for when you are a better programmer. All you need right now is an editor that lets you put text into a fi le.
We will use gedit, TextWrangler, or Notepad++ (from now on called “the text editor” or “a text editor”) because it is simple and the same on all computers. Professional programmers use these text editors, so it’s good enough for you starting out.
A programmer may try to get you to install Python 3 and learn that. Say, “When all the Python code on your computer is Python 3, then I’ll try to learn it.” That should keep him or her busy for about 10 years.
A programmer will eventually tell you to use Mac OSX or Linux. If the programmer likes fonts and typography, he’ll tell you to get a Mac OSX computer. If he likes control and has a huge beard, he’ll tell you to install Linux. Again, use whatever computer you have right now that works. All you need is an editor, a Terminal, and Python.
Finally, the purpose of this setup is so you can do four things very reliably while you work on the exercises:
- Write exercises using your text editor, gedit on Linux, TextWrangler on OSX, or Notepad++ on Windows.
- Run the exercises you wrote.
- Fix them when they are broken.
- Repeat
